Exhaust gas heater



Jan' 5, 1942- w. R. WILLIAMSON E-rAL 2,268,979

EXHAUST G AS HEATER Filed April 5, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 /a 49 57 ma lNvENToRs MMWR hhz/Ansa/m/ra 52 BY f-l/x 51960 Ji?.

/ ATTORNEYS Jan- 6, 1942' w. R. WILLIAMSON ETAL 2,268,979

v EXHAUST GAS HEATER Filed pril 5, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet-2 lNvENoRs Fia/4M j?. Mummia/mu j@ ,25 BY EFL/x JAca, Ji?.

,1. ATTORNE S Patented Jan. 6, 1942 La l EXHAUST GA'SHA'T William n. Williamson, valleyfsifeamsndyrelix l l. .1

Saco, Jr., Island Park', N. Y.,"assgnors .to' The i, 7'

Maxim Silencer Company,-, H artford,'Conn.;a v corporation of Connecticut; I

Application April 5, 1940, srial 1 Claim. iclfzsv-faze-)g Y, y l

' i I n its preierredjiorm (themdevice comprises an The present invention relates to heat reclaiming de vicesused in connection with the exhaust system of'iriternal ycombustion motors. Due to the 'high temperature of the exhaust gases coming from internal combustion motors a verysubstantialfportion of the heat theoretically available from the fuel'isy wasted, passing out toat- 'Inosphere through the exhaust system without -being reclaimed in any way. The present inven- -tin' relates to a device for heating Water or other liquid vfrom the exhaust system, the hot water 'thus produced'vbeing lused either directly as an 'intermediate heat carrying agent for any purpose desired,or convertedinto steam. y l Y The rinvention has ,particular application' y to stationary engine installations which are generally run forlong .periods at aI steady load. Underthese conditions the available temperature in the exhaust gases remains-substantially ,12.0

constant,-although the requirements of the device tov which the reclaimed heat is being furnished may vary widely'. To satisfy this condi- 'tion one `object of the present invention'is the production of an exhaust operated waterheater throughv which any desired proportion of the eX- haust gases may be passed or. which may be shut off entirely from the exhaust' gases without impeding the ow of the latter. Since the device is intended to be used on stationary internal combustion engines which frequently use a lowgrade of fuel it is necessary to provide some way in which sooty deposits may be removed from the heating system so that the efflciency of the latter will not be materially impaired. It is, therefore, an additional object of the invention to provide an exhaust operatedwater heater whichmay be cleaned without necessitating the shutting down of the power plant to which it is connected. A further object of the invention is to provide a heater of this general character with a valve mechanism which will be substantially unaffected by the pulsatingA character of the exhaust gas stream. Additional objects will appear from the following description and claim.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a vertical section through a heating device constructed in accordance with the invention, taken online I-I of Fig. 3;

Fig. 2 is a section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Fig. l;

vFig. 4 is a detail of certain valve operating mechanism; and

Fig. 5 is a detail showing the valves in a position closing off the ilow of exhaust gases through the heater.

elliptical upper Asection-l 0 havin'g'a circular vilange lower cylindrical portionl3 -may be attached as bybolts "I4`;. ;-""Inlet and; exhaustV connections vI5 and I6 fare-attached to theendsfof the elliptical section,and'thellatterr` is provided with internal ndi-verticalpartitions I8 and.v I9,` rebyfwhich lit is divided vrinto yan inlet spectilflelmk 'compartment 2l);l and yanl voutlet y:ic'o'ifnpartment 2 I.

Accessibility,tcf these lchal'nbersf is' vprovided opening 4c )pllaningf'into""`a "lower 1 chamber r2.6

Winch-communicates with the interior ofl the cylindrical, portion`l'3. Thev partition is also pro- 'vided llv'ith 'a second Vopening "21 lin` whichv is xed ahollow tubular member 28vextending nearly to the `bottom yofthe'cylindrical'member I3 and havin'g'its lower-endfcpen.' Valve structure to be described later' is provided so that the gases may pass lthr'ougl'l the chan'lbersV` 20 and. 26' into the interior of the cylindrical member I3 and then upwardlythrough'the tube i 28 into the Outlet 'chamber 2|. f' this-train'alrr the gases flow around al heating coilA conventionallyshown at-29 and preferably having heat conducting ns 30 formed along its length, only a few of these fins 4having been shown in the drawings for purposes of simplicity. The ends of the heating coil pass out through the upper member II)l through suitable connections 3| and 32 and the iiow of water through them is preferably in a direction opposed to that of the exhaust gases.

The partition I9 is provided with a single opening and is suitably machined adjacent this opening so as to provide two opposite valve seats 36 and 31. The partition I8 is similarly machined adjacent the openings 25 and 21 so as to form valve seats 38 and 39. A pair of valve members are provided which may be oscillated from the position shown in Fig. 1 to that shown in Fig. 5. The valve memberscarry valve plates 40 and 4I which in the first position close the opening 35, and valve plates 42 and 43 which in the second position close the openings 25 and 26. In the position closing the opening 35 the valves block off the exhaust stream and force it to pass through the heating chamber I3. The gas stream is of a pulsating "character and were a single valve to be employed there would be difiiculty due to the valve being pushed alternately age. The tubular valve structure shown always ing coil and interioryof the chambers cleaned without necessitating interruption of the` operation of the engine.

In order to avoid the necessity for great accuracy in the machining of the valve seats and to prevent leakage due to warping of the metal surfaces on account of the high temperature of the exhaust gases, the valves are preferably made of a special construction indicated in detail in Figs. l and 2. Each valve member is provided with -an operating shaft 45 upon which is Ypinned a pair of arms 46 carrying a transverse rod .41. The two plates 40, 42 or 4|, 43 as the case may be, are jointly secured to a bearing member 48 .free to turn on the rod 41 so that as the arms 46 are lswung into one or the other of their valve closing positions the valve plates may be free to .adjust Vthemselves to the surface of the valve seat. In order Vtovavoid too great'freedom .of movement, however, a pair of lugs 49 are preferably secured to each rod 41 and extend between the valve plates as best shown in Fig. l .so as to limit the oscillation of the latter about the rod 41.

The operating shafts 45 extend .outwardly through stuing boxes 50 and, as best shown in Figs. 3 and 4, each have an -arm .5| secured thereto. Links 52 are pivoted to the arms 5I at 53 and are pivoted at 54 to a rod 55 slidable vertically in ways 5E. By. raising and lowering the rod 55 the arms `5| may be rocked and will be held yieldably in either extreme position by a 'spring51 which is caused to pass to one side or the other of the line of centers of the shafts 45 by the rocking of the arms. The rod 55 is pref-- erably provided with a handle 58 and with a locking screw 59 so that it may be held as desired in any intermediate position allowing only a fraction of the exhaust gases to pass through the heating unit.

What we claim is:

An exhaust gas heater comprising a casing member providing a through channel normally adapted for horizontal mounting in the exhaust line of an internal combustion engine, inlet and outlet connections to connect said channel to the exhaust line of an internal combustion engine, a second member providing a depending substantially cylindrical heat exchanger chamber having its upper end wall and a portion of its side wall formed integrally with a side wall of the through channel and a removable cap forming the lower end wall and the rest of the side wall of the chamber, a conduit for fluid to be heated mounted in the chamber with substantially its entire heat exchanging surface located within that portion of the chamber which is formed by the cap, an apertured partition extending transversely of the through channel across the normal path of gases through the channel and intermediate the inlet and outlet connections for said channel, the side wall of the through channel having an auxiliary aperture for communication therethrough between the inlet side of said partition and the heat exchanger chamber, a conduit on the outlet -side of the partition extending from the side wall of the through channel axially through the exchanger chamber to a point-'adjacent the lower end wall, said auxiliary aperture and conduit as well as the passageway for gases in passing from one to the other through the chamber being dimensioned to present a pathway for exhaust Vgases substantially equal in cross-section to at least the minimum cross-section of the through channel, and valve means in the through channel, one on each side of the .partition and arranged to seat on the opposite faces of the partition and close the aperture therein or alternatively to seat on the lside .wall of the through channel and close communication Vbetween the through channel and the heat exchange chamber.

WILLIAM R. WILLIAMSON. FELIX saco. JR.

CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION.

g Patent No. I 2,268, 979. v January 6, 19m.

WILLIAM R. WILLIAMSON, ET AL.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patentl requiring correction as follows: Page 2, second column, line lO, in the claim, after second" insert --casing--g and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

signed and Sealed this 10th day of March, A. D. 19m.

Henry Van Arsdale,

(Seal) Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

